Microsoft spreads its version of DLSS to more Intel laptops

There’s more than one kind of optimized upscaling for games. Nvidia does it (DLSS), AMD does it (FSR), Intel does it (XeSS). And you might be surprised to hear that Microsoft does it, right there in Windows. Auto Super Resolution has been quietly spreading out to more and more hardware, and this week it comes to laptops and desktops with the latest chips.

That’s not just a big deal for Core Ultra Series 3 laptops, which are the newest and coolest thing on a Best Buy shelf that no one can afford. It’s a big deal for the Arc G3 series, which are the chips in the coolest handheld gaming PCs that no one can afford, like the Predator Atlas 8. The majority of these devices are coming with Windows, so while FSR and XeSS are both options, it’s interesting to get an upscaling tool from the native operating system. It’s also enhanced by NPUs, so finally they can do something if you’re not trying to generate slop.

Microsoft says that you can try out Auto SR with any game using DirectX 10 or later, but it’ll shine on “texture-heavy games at higher resolutions and graphics settings.” Interestingly, the promotional page is pushing users to bump up the settings quality and get the same or slightly better framerate, rather than going for a pure performance win. While only still images are shown, an Assassin’s Creed Shadows image shows more foliage on an Ultra High setting with approximately the same framerate.

Auto SR also has some growing pains. It’s still trained on very specific input and output performance targets capping out at 1080p, and might get wonky at other resolutions. It also upscales the entire image, so even Microsoft says that “text & fine line UI detail appear ‘fainter.’” In fact it’s still recommending XeSS and other upscalers when the game explicitly supports them.

If you’re on a Panther Lake laptop or handheld, you can download the Auto Super Resolution package to try it out.